Cynk Or Swim

A company quoted on the OTC market with no assets, no revenues, no web-site, one employee and an accumulated loss of $1.5 million has seen its shares rise 24,000% from 16 cents on June 16th to $14 giving it a value of $4 billion.

The company, called Cynk, used to be called introbiz.com which was a social network which offered to put people in touch with celebs for $50 a shot.

The number of trades in Cynk shares is not that big and one explanation for this extraordinary valuation is that the stock has caught the attention of a momentum trade algorithm which buys stocks when they are going up – just because they’re going up,

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10 Comments

david manners

July 15, 2014 11:36

A hoot indeed, The Baron, if it’s a Battle of Algorithms then we’re going to see much more of this sort of thing. The interesting thing was that trading volumes weren’t high – so some clever clogs found a way to push the stock into momentum mode without spending too much, whereupon the algorithm picked up on it as a momentum stock and whoosh. It’s all beyond this simple country boy.

The Baron

July 15, 2014 11:10

I wonder who owned the shares?

Wouldn’t it have been a hoot if someone’s garage enterprise had hoodwinked some algorithmic trading engine at Gold-man-sacks (or similar) out of a few billion dollars?

I’m sure then there would be cries of “unfair!” even though the money suits love nothing more than to remind us at every opportunity that “the market knows best and needs no regulation (…when working in our favour); trust us on this, we’re the brightest and best, donchya know!?”

david manners

July 15, 2014 10:36

Well if the SEC is doing its job, DontAgree, this rich guy is going to jail.

DontAgree

July 15, 2014 09:06

Figures, the rich get richer …

david manners

July 15, 2014 07:21

Well it would have been if the sole owner had sold out in time, DontAgree, but now that the SEC has suspended trading in the shares he can’t sell out.

DontAgree

July 15, 2014 02:18

Sounds like the best way to kill a company … the sole owner sells out and retires tomorrow …

david manners

July 14, 2014 21:25

Crikey SilverMan that’s a relief

Silverman

July 14, 2014 16:53

Funny as long as no UK pension funds are involved providing the money!

david manners

July 14, 2014 15:56

Well it’s very fortunate you haven’t got any Dr Bob because you wouldn’t be able to – the SEC has just suspended them!

A hoot indeed, The Baron, if it's a Battle of Algorithms then we're going to see much more of this sort of thing. The interesting thing was that trading volumes weren't high - so some clever clogs found a way to push the stock into momentum mode without spending too much, whereupon the algorithm picked up on it as a momentum stock and whoosh. It's all beyond this simple country boy.

I wonder who owned the shares?
Wouldn't it have been a hoot if someone's garage enterprise had hoodwinked some algorithmic trading engine at Gold-man-sacks (or similar) out of a few billion dollars?
I'm sure then there would be cries of "unfair!" even though the money suits love nothing more than to remind us at every opportunity that "the market knows best and needs no regulation (...when working in our favour); trust us on this, we're the brightest and best, donchya know!?"